IGES import - Architectural modelling - Texturing Part 3

The level of realism of any 3D rendering is in the texturing. One can get away with surprising simplicity in geometry and still create convincing levels of realism. In the case of buildings, using photographs for 3D model textures yields the best results. Taking photographs of real world materials, scanning them in, and using software such as Photoshop to make textures "tilable" is an artform in itself.

RS3D offers a powerful material engine that gives the modeler many options for mapping such textures onto objects. Rather than using the standard 'Parallel mapping' method for brickwork, we will use a pre-made scope material that allows us to map our bricks onto only faces that are within a certain angle to the mapping object. The advantage of using this method means we will not get the mapping "stretching" through the object. It is only mapped where we want it:

Load the materials from "Part 3 texturing" into our scene. (When loading, turn on "materials" under the 'sections' option). Under the materials tab, we have 3 new materials:

The level material (in red) is a combination of the first two materials. But first we need to assign the brick texture to the "brick" material. Select 'Brick' from the textures directory and tile in X and Y.

Make the view orthographic - side and zoom the outer wall level. We can map this material straight to the outer wall itself, or to the whole Boolean level. In this case we will map it only to the wall itself, but to do so, we need to drop it to its own level. Select the 'outer wall & windows' level and select "Make Current" from the popup menu. Select the outer wall object - and select "Drop to Level" from popup again. Position the object so it is above the 'windows' level: Select the 'outer wall' level. (The new one with only the outer wall in it)

Parallel map the "Brick Scope" level material to the view. It does not matter where you place it or how large you make it. Select the resultant mapping object - and under the "Spec" tab change its width, height and depth values to 470. Make the outer wall level the current level. In a top view, Duplicate the mapped material and rotate it 90 degrees about the Y axis (Green rotate handle).

Make sure you select the "Root" directory as the current level when your done. We have now mapped the brick material through the wall object - but only on the front and side views.

Select the 'Garden Paving' level. Create a new VSL material called "Paving". Add a 'Texture map' wizard, select "pavers.jpg". Map parallel in plan - change the size of the mapping to 500mm square.

The scene can be further detailed to include glass, decking timbers, window sills, deck framing, plants, interior lights etc. With any architectural project, it is important to keep all modeling tasks to a minimum and only model what you need to see.

Window sills can be modeled by copying the window CUTS and scaling and sizing, and cutting them out again.

Adding cameras and animating walkthroughs, slow pans and the like are all easy to create once we have our basic model. To add realism to the model, adding tile textures, grass texture and bumps to the paving and bricks would all serve to create a convincing model.

Foliage can be created by using clip maps, cutting out a simple rectangle with a solid color or alpha channel serves to keep geometry at a minimum and realism high. This also works well to insert people into your models (clip maps).

Final Pergola model inserted into photograph

Since we have created this model accurately, we can even use photographs from on-site and match the perspective and composite the two together. Adding foliage in the foreground and giving the image a natural "grain" or "blur" helps to integrate our renders into a photograph.

Another powerful feature of RS3D is the ability to cut Booleans RIGHT THROUGH OUR ENTIRE SCENE - simply create an analytical cube, large enough to encompass the whole scene, and Boolean NOT the 'site' level with the cube. By changing the color of the cube, we can render a red line showing the section cut, and even animate the cut right through the site!

The final scene can be found under - Part 3 - finished.

IGES importing tips